Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong based book publisher who has been missing since October after disappearing in Thailand, appeared on Chinese state television on Sunday to publicly confess to a hit and run incident in 2003 in which a young woman died.

Mr. Minhai, a Swedish citizen, said he had voluntarily returned to mainland China to face charges.

The taped confession, and the claim of voluntary return, were met with much scepticism.

Minhai is one of five missing people, all of whom were involved in the publishing of unflattering work about China's political elite.

Thousands protest in Hong Kong

Demonstrators are demanding answers about the disappearance of five book publishers, four of whom vanished in October and a fifth, Lee Bo, in December.

They sold books critical of China

Causeway Bay Books and Mighty Curre sold books critical of the Communist Party that can be published in Hong Kong but not on the mainland - the disappearances have raised questions about the one country, two systems policy.

A mysterious fax from Lee Bo

On Tuesday, a faxed letter supposedly sent by Mr. Bo said he had travelled to China to 'assist certain parties with an investigation'. *